Respect yourself, APC tells ex-gov at NEC meeting
Civil rights activist, Shehu Sani, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s lack of trust in the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, made the President to drop him from his cabinet.
This followed el-Rufai’s claims that Tinubu changed his mind about making him a minister after begging him publicly to be part of his administration. Also, the All Progressives Congress (APC) advised the ex-governor to respect his status as a former minister and governor, warning that continued public engagement over his grouse with the party would invite responses from other members.
In an interview with Arise Television on Monday night, el-Rufai said after Tinubu had begged him to come on board and be a part of his cabinet, the President, for reasons best known to him, changed his mind.
While reacting to the interview, Sani stated that Tinubu had no option but to change his mind about el-Rufai due to a lack of trust in the former governor.
The former lawmaker, who represented Kaduna Central in the Senate, in a post he shared on his X handle on Tuesday, called el-Rufai a traitor, who betrayed some of his trusted allies, including the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
According to him, no sane President would trust a man who has a penchant for selling out his friends for his political ambition.
NATIONAL Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, slammed el-Rufai while addressing concerns over the absence of some key party leaders at the recent national caucus and National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings of the party.
Speaking at a briefing on the outcomes of the meetings, Morka clarified that while some leaders were absent, every member of both the caucus and NEC had been duly invited. He dismissed el-Rufai’s claims that the APC’s internal structures were dysfunctional and asserted that all organs of the party remain active and effective.
“All organs of the party are working. There is a difference between party men and people who speak because they have a grievance. Grievance-driven commentaries are not to be taken seriously. It was clear from all the comments that the former governor of Kaduna has an axe to grind,” Morka said.
He cautioned el-Rufai against allowing personal dissatisfaction to influence his public statements, adding that respected figures must act in a way that justifies their reputation.
“For today’s meeting, I was prepared to respond to the former governor and suggest to him that some of his recent engagements are unnecessary for someone who has occupied the positions he has in this country. Men, who are respected must also continue to justify the respect they get. It is not a good idea that once you are dissatisfied, especially when it comes to personal experiences, you then want to visit your personal grievances with the system of a political party,” Morka added.
He reiterated that while el-Rufai is a respected figure within the APC, he remains just one individual within the party structure.
